Horseshoe



T. HEAD.

(No Model.)

HORSESHOE.

No. 287,024.. Patented Oct. 23, 1883.

UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS HEAD, OF LQWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

HORSESH OE.

SPEGIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 287,024, dated October23, 1883. Application filed December 30, 1882. (No model.)

Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS HEAD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHorseshoes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for spreading the heel of the shoe, and tomeans for readily and securely attaching calks to a smooth or summershoe, to means for readily detaching such calks when not required to beused, or for the purpose of sharpening such calks.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view, showingthe under side and edge of a smooth shoe with my invention attachedthereto; Fig. 2, a central longitudinal section of a shoe having myimprovements attached; Fig. 3, a similar section of the front call: setback from the toe of the shoe; Fig. 4, a top view of said shoe with myimprovements.

A is an ordinary flat or smooth shoesuch as is used in summer-and isattached in the usual manner to the horses hoof by nails pass- 1 ingthrough the holes 13 in the creases G 0.

Between the branches of the shoe, near theheel,

where said branches converge, I place a heelpiece, D, shaped in itsupper part like the frustum of a wedge, and having a stem, D, whichprojects forward. A toepiece, E, having a slot, E, to receive the inneredge of the front part of the shoe, extends back centrally and in linewith the stem D. The stem 1) and the rear end of the piece E arecylindrical, and are each provided with a screw-threaded extension, D E,one thread being a left-hand and the other a right-hand thread. Asleeve, F, having internal screw-threads (one at each end) to correspondwith and fit the threads D E, being placed around the front end of thestem D and the rear end of the toe-piece E and turned in one direction,will wed e the heelpiece in between the branches of the shoe and spreadthe heel of the shoe; but, being turned in the other direction, willloosen said toepiece and heel-piece and allow them to be removed fromthe shoe while the shoe is attached to the foot. The sleeve may beturned by a pin inserted in the radial holes F and used as a ever orhandspike. A spring; S, secured at its rear end to the heel-piece, is

forked at its front end, S, to engage with pro jections F, formed on thesleeve F, and prevent it from being accidentally turned. The toecalk Eis formed in one piece with the toepiece, and either comes to the frontof the shoe, as usual, or (on the front shoes of overreaching horses) isplaced farther back from the toe, as in Fig. 3, having the effect ofrounding up the toe and causing the heel to be lifted quicker out of theway of the horses hind feet.

with the heel-piece D, and are extended out beneath the shoe A,'(t0occupy the positionsin which ordinary heel-calks are placed, andthusprevent the heel-piece from being pressed up farther into the shoe. Athin plate, G,

the branches of the shoe, lies partly on top of said shoe and partlybetween said branches, and is provided. also with a screw-threaded stud,G, which extends down through ahole, D, in the heel-piece, and into anut, H, which, being turned up against the bottom of the heel-piece,draws the plate G and heel-piece closely against the shoe and preventsany movement of the parts upon each other.

In shoes not too narrow at the heel it is a matter of indifferencewhether the heel-calks are applied before or after applying the toecalk;but in shoes narrow at the heel the heelcalks are first applied asfollows: The plate G, being loosely connected to the heel-piece by thethreaded stud G and nut H, is placed in the'iniddle of the shoe, pressedtoward the foot and backtoward the heel. The nut H is then turned up andthe toe-call: is then placed in position and crowded forward by turningthe sleeve, as above described. To remove the whole calking device fromthe shoe the sleeve is turned in the reverse direction to draw thetoe-calk back. The nut H is loosened, allowing the piece G and theheel-piece to move apart, and the toe-call: beingturned down below theshoe the whole device is pushed forward until the piece G can be drawndown out of the middle of the shoe.

It will be seen that the heel-piece and toepiece, with their respectivecalks, may be readily removed from the shoe when it is desired tosharpen the calks, "or to use the shoe without calks, and may be asreadily replaced,

The heel-calks D D are formed in one piece provided with shoulders G,which fit between and that there is no danger of these parts be comingloosened by accident from the shoe; also, that one toe-piece may bereadily substituted for another having the toe-calk at a differentdistance from the toe of the shoe, and this may be done without removingthe heelpiece; also, that my device serves the purpose of afrog-support. the advantages of which are well known, and furnishes aconvenient means of mechanically expanding a contracted heel.

Instead of the sleeve a solid screw provided with a right-hand threadand a left-hand thread and entering corresponding screwthreaded holes inthe toe-piece and heel-piece may be used, and in either case the sameparts will fit several different sizes of shoes.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the toepiece E, providedwith a slot, the heel-piece D, one of said pieces being provided with aleft-hand and the other with a right-hand screw, and the sleeve F,provided at opposite ends with internal screw-threads corresponding withand fitting the threads on said pieces, as and for the pur posespecified.

2. The combination, with the toe-piece E and the heelpicoe D, providedwith screwthreads, as described, of the sleeve F, provided withscrew-threads and means of engaging with the spring S, and said spring,as and for thepurpose specified.

3. The combination, with the toe-piece E and heel-piece D, said piecesbeing provided with screw-threads, of the sleeve F, provided withscrew-threads and with the projections F, and the spring S, as and forthe purpose specified.

4. The combination of the toe-piece E, provided with the call: and withthe slot E, the heel-piece D,provided with the calks D D", saidtoe-piece and heel-piece being also pro vided one with a right-hand andthe other with a left-hand screw, and the sleeve F, provided withscrew-threads which correspond with and fit the screw-threads on saidtoe-piece and heel-piece, as and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination of the toe-piece E, the heel-piece D, said piecesbeing provided with screw-threads, as described, the sleeve F, )rovidedwith screw-threads, as described, and the plate G, having the stud G andthe not H, .as and for the purpose specified.

THOMAS HEAD.

"Witnesses:

ALBERT M. Moonn, EDXVARD W. THOMPSON. 7

